Open Gallery

RRD Superstyle

manafacturer's claims

“The new full x-ply body of the sail creates a great heavy-duty support to keep the shape in the right place on the whole sail, while the new bigger lightweight monofilm window allows for weight saving in the less stressed areas. This also creates a very new distinctive look that will make any Super Style an easy sail to spot on the water. The full, powerful profile of the Super Style will give you plenty of speed and control to get you moving, carve hard and jump high.”

The RRD Super Style is now into its fourth generation and is targeted as RRD’s all-conditions wave and freestyle sail. It sits in the three-sail RRD wave range alongside the cross-shore orientated Vogue and the 4-batten Four. We tested the 5.2 version last month in our power wave sail test, so this month we’re checking out the 4.7 against the all-round wave sails.

on the beach

The Italians have a reputation for being the ‘gurus of style’, and with a name like ‘Super Style’ it’s no surprise that this RRD is a very eye-catching sail on the water – particularly in this bright yellow colour scheme!

Looking at the more practical side of things, the measurements show a luff and boom length sitting roughly within the middle of this group. The weight of 3.44kg is very respectable and one of the lightest in test.

The sail sets with a reasonable amount of rotation in the lower two battens, but not too much pre-set shape in the actual battens themselves, making the sail look fairly flat in comparison to the other sails within this group.

The RRD is versatile enough to be tuned for lighter and stronger conditions, but in general it performs better with more downhaul applied, helping it get sufficient release from the head and giving more stability.

As we found with the 5.2, the SuperStyle needs to be set with minimal outhaul to get power from it. Even at the top end the sail seemed to work best with neutral outhaul. Make sure you get plenty of batten tension on the lower battens to induce shape and stability.

on the water

As we found with last year’s sail (and the 5.2m version tested last month), one of the first things you notice is that the SuperStyle has a much firmer, stiffer feel compared to the other sails within this group, and also sets a bit flatter. This gives slightly less feedback than other sails, but a very settled feel. At the top end of the wind range this is a good trait. The SuperStyle remains reasonably stable, light in the hands and holds its shape well, thus scoring very well for top end.

At the bottom end of the wind range, the stiffer feel and flatter profile make the sail feel less responsive in the hands and ultimately limit the bottom end power to some degree.

The pull position is slightly forward of middle, which helps give it that lighter feel in the hands and aids the top end control. This SuperStyle does feel a little lighter and more manoeuvrable than last year’s version.

Power delivery seems a little sharper on this 4.7 than the 5.2. Perhaps as a result of the smaller size, there’s a definitely a more instantaneous delivery of power on the 4.7 tested here.

Untuned range is reasonably good in that the sail works through a decent wind range without having to retune.

overall impression

The RRD Super Style sits more comfortably within this ‘all-round’ test group than last month’s ‘power wave’ category. It shines more at the top end of the wind range than at the bottom, working best with a fair amount of downhaul and low outhaul tension. In the hands it’s quite a ‘rigid’ feeling sail with a slightly forward pull position, making it feel light and fairly agile.